1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to computer networks and in particular to communications within computer networks. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system, and program product for improving a client's communication performance within a network by automatically selecting a best performing network route for the client communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks, such as the Internet, are typically based on Client/Server software architectures. These architectures provide a versatile infrastructure that supports shared access to server resources. A client is typically a requester of services, and a server is the provider of services. A single machine can be both a client and a server depending on the software configuration. A client machine is loaded with client software, while a server machine is loaded with server software. Clients can be either stand-alone computer systems (like personal computers) or “dumber” systems adapted for limited use with a network.
A generalized client-server computing network has several nodes or servers which are interconnected, either directly to each other or indirectly through one of the other servers. Based on network configuration, the connection by the client to the network may be via an ethernet connection or token ring, etc. Other direct and/or indirect connection methods (e.g. telephone connection via remote access protocol) are also possible when a client is connected from the user's home, for example. In traditional networks, only a single connecting medium to the network is possible for each client.
The network can be a localized network or geographically dispersed network and can be further connected to other networks. Each server is essentially a stand-alone data processing (computer) system, having one or more processors, memory devices, and communications devices, that has been adapted (programmed) for providing information and/or services to individual users at another set of nodes or client workstations.
In a Local Area Network (LAN), for example, clients are usually configured to communicate via a particular server. For geographically dispersed networks, as in an intranet or Internet, a client's network communication may occur via a localized server or a server in another geographic location. The use of auto-proxy servers in a LAN system helps to improve network performance. However, only one connection route may be configured within the client at a particular time and these servers can become congested during heavy usage or traffic. Also, current client browsers (i.e., software applications for accessing and communication with the Internet) are typically configured to transmit network traffic via a specific server and once configured, remain set in that configuration until the user manually changes the settings to utilize another server. Thus, if the server connection is congested, the user may either remain on the connection or terminate the session and attempt to secure a faster connection by re-connecting to the same server. Also, if the connection is lost during a session, the session information is usually lost (or unrecoverable) and the user has to re-connect via the same server and start the session over.
Network input/output (I/O) performance is often a problem when using a browser in an intranet to access the World Wide Web or Internet. In most intranet cases, the client is required to use a sock server or a proxy server before a connection can be made to the Internet. In a typical intranet, there are several sock or proxy severs that may be geographically dispersed within the network. The performance of the servers varies throughout the day due to factors such as location, time of day, loading, etc. Thus, in most networks, auto-proxy servers, which filter the local intranet traffic from the external Internet traffic, are utilized to improve performance of sock servers.
To address such performance concerns, special tools or components have been developed to improve communication to servers connected to the Internet. For example, various load balancing solutions have been implemented, such as Local Director of Cisco Systems. Local Director performs load balancing and interfaces with the Internet-based client attempting to access the content servers. All traffic across the Internet to content servers is thus shielded by Local Director. U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,660 discloses a load balancer having a virtual address connected to a multi-node server. The load balancer receives all incoming Internet requests for server access, and modifies the destination address to reflect the correct server node that ultimately services the request. These solutions are all server-based and implemented on the back end of the network, i.e., the server connection to the Internet itself.
The present invention recognizes that it would therefore be desirable to have a method, system, and program product for dynamically improving the network access and communication performance of a client. A method, system, and program product, which allows a client browser to automatically select a best connection route for communicating to both intranet and Internet servers would be a welcomed improvement. It would be further desirable if such a method, system, and program product permitted a single client to select between multiple connection media based on a connectivity history to select the optimal route for connecting to a network. These and other benefits are provided in the present invention.